Five Reasons Why YOU Should Consider ONLINE TUTORING
“Do you offer in-person sessions?”
This is by far the most common question that prospective parents ask me as an online tutor.
And I can see why. We are not so far removed from the COVID pandemic of 2020 that parents and students have forgotten what it was like to experience distance learning. Students joylessly looking into a grid of their classmates’ faces, teachers having no means and little incentive to enforce class rules, and everyone having to endure awkward breakout rooms where nobody wanted to contribute anything. It is natural, sensible even, to want to avoid anything that seems to be remotely connected to that.
But the truth is that online tutoring is very different from the distance learning we remember from a few years ago. In fact, online tutoring provides numerous advantages that make it a highly attractive option for both students and parents. I’d like to take this blog post to explore these key benefits.
1. Online Tutoring ≠ Online School
Online tutoring is nothing like online school. There is a very different dynamic online when the interaction is one tutor to one client, as opposed to one teacher to thirty (or more) students. When I am acting as an online tutor, the student client has my full undivided attention, and our interaction is both personable and interactive. I make sure that clients have the chance to ask questions, express their areas of confusion, and talk through their developing ideas, just the same as if I were there in person. Even more importantly, I give them the opportunity to make mistakes, as well as to be proud of their successes, both without fear of judgement by any peers.
2. Anytime, Anywhere
There is no question that online tutoring beats in-person tutoring when it comes to convenience. Since online tutoring can occur anywhere that there is an Internet connection, clients are free to hold their tutoring sessions from any location, and do not have to worry about commuting to a tutoring center or commit to being at a certain place at a specific time. I have hosted productive tutoring sessions where the client was
- At the kitchen table
- In bed, recovering from illness
- In the school library
- Outside in the school courtyard
- In their college dormitory
- In the car, while traveling on a long distance trip
- At a vacation home
- Visiting relatives in another country
Furthermore, online tutoring provides more flexibility in time scheduling. As a tutor, I am able to host sessions from 7:00 in the morning all the way to 8:30 at night, and no one has to commute early in the morning nor drive around after dark. Because there is no travel time involved, I am often able to fulfill requests for same-day tutoring. In fact, my college tutoring service allows clients to book a session as little as 2 hours before the session, but I don’t think I would be able to offer such a service consistently if I had to travel somewhere to do it.
3. Better Access to Resources
As both the tutor and the client are online, they both have direct access to the vast resources available through the Internet. Among the most important of these is collaboration tools. One way in which I collaborate with my clients is to write down solutions to shared problems, so that the client has a record of what we worked on during the session and can refer to the solutions after the fact. I’d like to share with you a sample of a notes page that I might have written using pencil on paper for a tutoring client back when I was tutoring in person:
In those days, I would write on the paper while the client either looked over my shoulder, or waited until I was done so I could rotate the paper to accommodate their view.
Now that I am online, I still share written work with the client, but I am now able to do so on a virtual online whiteboard provided by Miro. Here is the same sample work, the way it might look if I did it on Miro:
The virtual whiteboard version is both clearer and more pleasant to look at because I am able to move and scale drawing elements around as needed to create better spacing, and also due to the generous use of different colored pens. Furthermore, the original problem (the orange box) has been imported onto the board in its entirety, so the client will be able to associate the solution we wrote with the correct problem, even if they look at this page months from now. Some clients have their own stylus and tablet and can write directly on the board alongside me.
The virtual whiteboard also contains tools such as a countdown timer (to simulate test conditions), a Google image search to find and paste content directly from the Internet, and a shape-drawing tool to incorporate geometric figures. And I am able to save a PDF copy of each whiteboard and store it in a shared Google Drive folder so that the client will always have access to our work. None of this was possible before going to an online format.
4. Fewer Added Costs
Because online tutoring incurs neither transportation costs nor rental fees for meeting spaces, it can often be more cost-effective than comparable in-person tutoring of the same quality. I used to drive to clients’ houses for tutoring, and was forced to pass on the added costs (gasoline, wear and tear on the vehicle) to the client. With my present arrangement, I am now able to keep my clients’ costs lower, and do better for the environment.
5. Access to a Global Pool of Tutors
Finally, online tutoring allows clients the opportunity to reach beyond their local neighborhood and to access tutors from all over the world. With online tutoring, clients have the option to match potential tutors based on subject, expertise, and teaching style, rather than just geography.
If a prospective client comes to me and is not a match for whatever reason, I always offer a list of other tutors that client can reach out to. Only a small percentage of these tutors are local; many live in other countries. It is my goal that every client gets the help that they need — even if it is not with me! and the online connection facilitates that.
Conclusion
If you find a tutor who comes highly recommended and seems like a good match, but you are afraid because that tutor does not provide in-person services in your area, I encourage you to give them a try. With a small number of exceptions (mostly clients with very specific learning challenges), the majority of clients can adjust to and even thrive under an online tutoring arrangement. My clients all do well in an online tutoring environment, and you may be surprised to find out that you or your child will also!